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What People *Actually* Do – Or Don’t Do - With Their Smartphones

Technology analysts iGR are forever asking questions about how consumers use their mobile devices – they’re nosy like that.

What’s more, they’re not afraid to go places that other insight companies fear to tread – like their opinion piece on bathroom use of mobiles.

At the recent CTIA, iGR president and founder Iain Gillot discussed their latest survey of 1,053 US consumers, spread evenly over age and income. The smartphone users were asked, in significant detail, what they got up to with their phones. Some of their answers were surprising.

The seemingly simple question – what did respondents ‘typically’ do with their phone – threw up some curves. iGR’s findings showed that as many as 15% of those surveyed don’t use their mobile devices to make phone calls. Meanwhile the younger respondents group included 20% ‘non-callers’.

Texting or messaging – which included Apple iMessage users – proved 5% more popular that voice. Once again, older folk were more committed to text/message. In fact, over 45s were a cool 25% more likely to use the medium than under 45s.

Mobile activities that appeared immune to age include sending photos and downloading apps. However, younger respondents were more inclined to play games, listen to music, and send, watch or download video.

When it comes to mobile device screens, it appears that size definitely matters. Forty per cent of survey participants said they wanted the same screen size that they currently sported, while 21% coveted a much bigger screen. No respondents opted for a smaller screen size.

Gillot said: “When iGR analyzed these screen size preferences further, we found that the users who performed all the activities from out list of possible activities were more likely to want a bigger screen.”

“These users, in addition to users who use their smartphone for both work and personal use, were more likely to desire a larger screen on their next smartphone.”

According to additional global research conducted by iGR, total handset sales will reach 2.7 billion units by 2017, of which 2 billion will be smartphones.